Ethel Hallow
Ethel Hallow is Mildred Hubble's acid-tongued rival. In their first year, Ethel takes pleasure in taunting Mildred about her inability to train her cat into riding a broomstick and Mildred responds by turning her into a pig. From then on Mildred and Ethel resent each other and Ethel vows to get Mildred expelled. So far she has been unsuccessful. She and her only friend, Drusilla, are always up to mischief, all the time plotting to get Mildred and her friends into trouble, they don't get caught as often as they'd deserve. Biography Ethel comes from a prominent witch family, and has two younger sisters, Sybil and Mona. Her father is chair of the board of governors - and Ethel likes to point out his influence on the fate of the school to the staff. In her first year at Cackle’s, Ethel is turned into a pig by Mildred Hubble after persistently taunting her about her tabby cat's inability to fly properly on a broomstick. In revenge, Ethel jinxed the spare broom she lent Mildred which caused Mildred to accidentally ruin a broomstick performance in front of Chief Wizard Egbert Hellibore. In the next term she locked Mildred and Enid in an abandoned store cupboard. In her second year, Ethel turned Mildred into a frog to get even with her for calling her family ‘weeds’. When on holiday at Algernon Rowan-Webb’s, she released a boat containing Tabby and an unconscious Miss Hardbroom out to sea; Mildred ends up saving them. In her third year, Ethel sheared all of Mildred's hair off and gave her a hair regrowth potion that caused Mildred's hair to grow out-of-control, and she also hid Tabby on the roof. In the next term, she turned Mildred's clay pot into five rattlesnakes and also stole Mildred's project, claiming it as her own. She also gets Drusilla to hide Mildred's talking pet tortoise up a tree to prevent him from revealing the truth about the project. In preparation for attending Weirdsister College, she became head of The Cauldron Club (which is for "posh girls").Secret Society She ran for head girl in her third year, but lost to Mildred.The Uninvited In her fourth year, Ethel is made Lantern Monitor, along with Mildred and Drusilla, and was responsible for destroying the ballet costumes, when her tussle with Mildred caused a lantern to fall and set fire to the costumes, burning them to shreds.The Worst Witch and the Wishing Star Ethel meets up with Mildred again at Weirdsister College. Upon their first encounter their mutual loathing resurfaces and Ethel claims that Mildred has no right to be in the college. However they become friends, except when Ethel believes Mildred is trying to muscle in on her experimental team for which Doctor Starfinder chose her personally. Mildred states, however, that she "didn't ask to be his guinea pig". Ethel and Hobbes also nearly tear Millie and Ben apart when they imprison Mildred in the Experimental Magic Laboratory and put Ben in mortal danger. The only way for Mildred to save him was to get inside his head and use his voice to remove the Locking Spell that Hobbes had put on the door to maze he had placed miniature Ben and a very large rat into. Ethel teamed up with Nick Hobbes to take over the world, only to thwart his plans in the end. She was on the team that won the Golden Cauldron, and she still has the award she received at Cackle's for acing her potions exams. Physical Appearance In the book illustrations Ethel is a tall, skinny and sharp-faced young girl, with blonde hair she wears in a ponytail with a black hair ribbon. She also has a very spiky nose (pointed out by Maud in A Bad Spell for the Worst Witch). In the television series she has mousy-brown hair, and is shown as a rather attractive young girl who matures into a beautiful and popular teenager in Weirdsister College. At Weirdsister, Ethel wears expensive clothes and lots of make-up. In her second year at Cackle's, she shaped her appearance (a "Witch-over") to hide the fact she is sister of winy Sybil Hallow. When she came to Weirdsister College, she felt as though it was safe to change back, and resumed her original apperance. Personality and Traits Ethel always gets straight As in everything and gives the impression of being a model student. However, she is spoiled, snobbish and vindictive although able to turn on the charm and act sweet and innocent when the teachers are near. Ethel is described as being "one of those lucky people for whom everything goes right" which is what caused her to become so snobby. Ethel has got many talents - among them pouting, bossing people around and insinuating herself into important people´s graces. As she is one of "THE" Hallows and her father is the chair of the board of governors, she regards herself superior to all the other pupils. Even though she´s a very successful pupil, the teachers do not always take her side - Miss Cackle, who has a soft spot for Mildred, distrusts Ethel's charms and even Miss Hardbroom who approves strongly of Ethel´s eagerness to learn has to admit that Ethel´s character is not exactly one to be approved of. Abilities and Skills Ethel is talented at spells and potions, as seen in the episode The Witchy Hour, when she is chosen for Cackle's team. Ethel is skilled when flying, she was able to fly on a broomstick before starting at Cackles, and she was flying standing up in her first flying lesson. When she got her cat Nightstar it was sitting on her broom in no time at all. She is not particularly sporty, as in Fair is Foul and Fouls are Fair, she is on Miss Drill 's basketball team but sits out in the match. Ethel is not very arty either, as in Art Wars, both Mildred and Maud are at better art than Ethel is. Ethel also plays violin, and is chosen to speak for Cackle’s in the debate against Camelot College. Relationships Mildred was unfortunate enough to make an enemy of Ethel during her first day at the academy. In Weirdsister College, Mildred and Ethel overcome their hatred of each other and become friends. Although in the episode were Enid visits, Ethel has no qualms about snitching on them. Ethel has two younger sisters, Sybil and Mona. When Sybil starts at Cackle’s, Ethel told her horror stories about how mean everyone was, and that the worst witch, Mildred Hubble, would get her. Hallow family portraits adorn the walls in the great hall at Cackle’s, and there seems to be an implication of having to live up to family standards - it's notable in Weirdsister College when asked why she came to the college she responds with simply "I'm a Hallow". This is shown with her interactions with Sybil during their time at Cackles; both have to live up to extreme family standards. in the 2017 series, she has an older sister, Esmerelda. A friend of Ethel's, Drusilla, makes a brief appearance in The Worst Witch All at Sea and later plays a bigger part in The Worst Witch to the Rescue where she hides Mildred's tortoise up a tree. In the TV series Drusilla is Ethel's bumbling sidekick. They are shown to be allies rather than true friends, sticking with each other because nobody else likes them. However, in the episode "The Unfairground" they they break up their friendship because Drusilla agrees with Mildred and her friends' attempts to stand up to the teachers. However, Drusilla is seen comforting Ethel after Mildred wins the position of head girl in the following episode. Ethel and Drusilla are also friendly with apprentice wizards Barry Dragonsbane and Gary Grailquest; the four of them work together to bully Mildred and Merlin. Miss Hardbroom is very strict on all of the girls except Ethel Hallow, the teachers' pet, though she will punish Ethel when she does something wrong. Trivia *Despite her hatred of Mildred and her friends, she does assist them in "A Bolt From The Blue" and "The Millennium Bug" *In the Telemovie, Ethel is mentioned to have older sisters and a three year old brother. Miss Hardbroom says that Ethel is “obviously going to be top in everything, just like her sisters.” in the 2017 TV series, Ethel has an older sister named Esmerelda. *Ethel Hallow ‘s name in other languages: French TV: Edith Aigreur French book: Octavie Pâtafiel German: Esther Edel - Esther Noble Dutch: Edith Huigel - Edith Feign Spanish: Ethel Hallow- unchanged Czech: Ethel Svatoušková Worst witch book5005.jpg|Ethel in the books Ethel 1986.png|Ethel in the 1986 Telemovie Ethel4.jpg|Ehel in Weirdsister College Img017.jpg|Colour illustration of Ethel by Jill Murphy 121484.jpg|Ethel Hallow in the 2017 TV Series Appearances *The Worst Witch (Book) *The Worst Witch Strikes Again *A Bad Spell For The Worst Witch *The Worst Witch All At Sea *The Worst Witch Saves The Day *The Worst Witch To The Rescue *The Worst Witch and the Wishing Star *The Worst Witch (TV Series) *Weirdsister College (TV Series) *The Worst Witch (1986 Telemovie) *The Worst Witch (2017 BBC Series) References Category:Characters Category:Weirdsister College Category:Witches